Sadly, due to COVID most of us have had to curtail our travel for the past nineteen months. For those with travel in the blood it has been difficult. Consequently, it may have been a time for reminiscing and checking out old photos. And for those of us of a certain age there is a long lifetime to ponder. In that process I have relived the pivotal point that changed my life forever and in a circuitous way brought me to Canada.
This summer, after reading at the local Writers Festival, the Hearth’s Jami Scheffer invited me to offer a storytelling talk at the gallery.
With so much material to pluck from, I have decided that my storytelling talk will focus on the wonderful gifts of living in an entirely different culture on another continent. One that had been closed to foreigners until 1951 and yes, one that had not been colonized. (Not that we thought much about that in the 60s.)
I am talking about the Himalayan Kingdom of Nepal, which it was when I arrived in 1966. At that time not much had changed since it opened up. After living in swinging London and a stint in Rome at the time of La Dolce Vita, it was exciting living in a place that had the feeling of going back in time.
The lanes of Kathmandu reminded me of what Dickensian London might have been, unpaved, muddy and with some giant size rats. But one only had to look up at the mountains and the mythical Buddhist temple of Swayambunath high up on a hill, with the all-seeing-eyes of Buddha looking down on us, to know we were in an extraordinary place. Many tribal people would come into Kathmandu bringing their wares to sell and there were many Tibetans who had left at the time the Dalai Lama did in 1959. Almost everyone wore their traditional clothing. Yes there were difficulties like no clean water or toilet paper (which seems bigger now than then.) But the jewels of the beauty and living life in a place not yet contaminated with capitalistic possessing, had its rewards. It was a breath of fresh air to live a simple life, especially after travelling overland through sixteen countries for three months. In my naivete I thought I might stay there for the rest of my life.
As with all good journeys we will start there, and like all travel it may veer off to other locations. At one point I did have to go and work in Bangkok, but my yearning brought me back to Nepal and many adventures for the better part of five years.
Hoping all interested will come to “Ramblings of a Committed Traveler” at the Hearth, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m.
Let’s go on a trip together.
